Diana Vreeland - The Eye Has To Travel

"A new dress doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s the life you’re living in the dress." - Diana Vreeland. This is just one astute and memorable bit of advice offered by Diana Vreeland in the vivid and rewarding documentary on her unique and inspired genius in "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel." With stunning insight, director Lisa Immordino Vreeland [granddaughter-in-law] not only pays tribute to Vreeland’s astounding work and career at American Harper’s Bazaar and American Vogue from 1936 to 1971, but also shines a brilliant light on Vreeland’s life force, determination, originality and uncanny sense of having her finger on the pulse of not only fashion but also on the very finest talents in the world of art and entertainment.

One thoroughly enticing discovery in the documentary is that in 1983, at the age of 80, Diana Vreeland set out with author George Plimpton to write her memoirs. These conversations for her unfinished book "D.V." were recorded and are presented as a dialogue recreated throughout the film. It is this core basis in which Diana Vreeland’s childhood in Paris, her discovery of "sense of self" in London and New York that pave the way to a deeper understanding of this iconic woman in fashion’s history and her brilliant touch within the pages of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

To say Diana Vreeland brought fashion to life is an understatement. Her ever-present and magnificent eye gave the world at large and those within her world, movement, fantasy, romance, brilliant color, texture and most of all... beauty and imagination. Countless people from all angles in the business of fashion provide insight in "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel" on the impact of her distinct talent and personality. Commentary in new interviews and documentary footage is provided by Lauren Hutton, Oscar de la Renta, Veruschka and Richard Avedon along with a veritable "who’s who" of remarkable designers, models and photographers. There are memories of intimidation, outright fear, a resounding sense of gratitude or just how "down-to-earth" or humorous she could be. This discovery and reflection of her legacy by others offers a first-class ticket to her remarkable achievements as a woman and how she became "Diana Vreeland" in the first place. As she was often known to express, "I was simply mad about it." I couldn’t agree more.

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